Mower guard



tion I3 and a heel I5.

Patented July 7, 1936 ATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

My invention relates in general to mower guards and has for an important object, the provision of a guard highly resistant to breakage and adapted to glide over obstructions without snagging.

Another important object is to provideamower guard having a ledger plate held thereon by a fastening device having an end exposed on the bottom of the guard,-theguardbeing formed with ribbed means on its lower surface adjacent the exposed end of the fastening device whereby to prevent breakage of the-guard andto permit the sameto ride over obstructions without snagging; a further object being to arrange the ribbed means as depending beads extendingon the bot.- tom of the guard on opposite sides of the projecting end of the ledger plate fastening device from a point in front .of the .device to points in the guard behind the device; a still further object being to terminate the beads in the :heel of the guard. I

Other objects, advantages, and inherent functions of the invention will become apparent as the same is more fullyv understood from the following description, which, taken with the accompanying drawing, discloses a preferred embodimentof the invention.

Referring to the drawing:

Figures land 2 are perspective views showing respectively the upper and lowersides of a device embodying my presentlinvention;

Figures 3 and 4 are views in vertical section respectively taken substantially along the lines '33 in Figure l and 4.-4 in Figure 3 to show the device in longitudinal and lateral section; and

Figures 5 and C6 are views in'vertical section taken substantially along the line -5-5 in Figure 3 to illustrate preferred section forms.

To illustrate the invention, I have shown, :on the drawing, a mower guard I I having a toe por- The upper surface of the heel is formed for attachment on the guard support of a mowing machine so that the guard may be mounted in position with its toe portion I3 projecting forwardly of the support. The heel also is formed with a perforation I! defined by bosses I9 and 2I on the upper and lower surfaces of the heel portion, the perforation being to receive a bolt or other fastening member adapted to secure the guard on its support. The heel also is provided with a peripheral boss 22 at the side and back edges of its upper surface, said boss 22 being slightly higher than the boss I 9 to provide for engaging the guard support firmly at a distance from the holding bolt so as to improve the clamping effect of the same.

sembled.

The guard is formed with a lateral shoulder 23 extendingacross the body of the guard and facing the seat in position to engage an edge of the guard support when the device is mounted thereon, the shoulder being relieved at 25 intermediate its ends 5 to provide spaced bearing surfaces 28 on each side of the heel to firmly engage the edge of the guard support.

Forwardly of the shoulder, the guard is formed with an upwardly facing ledger plate seat 26 and an overhanging tongue 27 extending rearwardly of the toe portion I3 and defining with the seat a space 3i for receiving a mower blade of any suitable construction and forming a part of the mowing machine on which the guard is adapted to be used. The ledger plate seat is adapted to carry a demountable ledger plate 29 in position to co-operate with a mower blade in the space 3| in order to perform the cutting function of the machine on which the guard is or may be as- The ledger plate is formed at its forward end with a lug adapted to fit into a socket 33 in the guard at the base of the tongue 21. The edge of the plate opposite the lug is notched as at 35 to fit a preferably semi-circular projection 37 formed in the guard at the rear edge of the seatl26 so that the ledger plate is held against lateral and longitudinal movement on its seat by and between the socket 33 and the projection 31. The ledger plate also is provided with a countersunk bolt hole 39 in position to register with a bolt hole 4| formed in the body of the guard between the seat 25, adjacent the projection 31, and the lower side of the guard. A bolt 43, having a conical sided, flat topped head 45, is secured in the hole 4| with its head in the countersunk hole 39, the

top of the head being flush with the upper surface of the ledger plate, The lower end of the bolt 43 is threaded and projects from the underside of the guard and carries a nut 41 threaded thereon to hold the same in place.

The lower side of the guard from the toe I3 rearwardly to the bolt 43 presents an unbroken surface forming a prow 49 adapted to ride easily over any obstruction with which the guard may come in contact during use on a mowing machine. Just in front of the bolt, the under surface of the guard is depressed to receive the nut 41 behind the surface of the prow and to form a shoulder 5|, continuing thence to form the heel E5. The surface of the prow, however, is continued rearwardly of the bolt, preferably in the form of beads 53 extending on opposite sides of the nut, the beads preferably continuing to and forming a part of the heel.

It will be noted that the beads 53, with the shoulder 5| form a socket to receive the nut and prevent same from turning so that the same may be secured on the bolt merely by turning the bolt as by means of a screw driver or other turning instrument applied 'to the head of the bolt, the end of the tongue 27 being relieved above the head of the bolt as at 55 to facilitate the use of the screw driver. The guard is of reduced section as at 51 between the heel and the ledger plate seat in order to accommodate amower blade support bar behind the ledger plate. The guard would ordinarily be relatively weak and tend to break at the reduced section .but it will be noted that the ribs 53 extend in the reduced section thus providing adequate strength at this point without increasing the weight of the guard materially.

In order to increase the strength of the guard further at the reduced section 51, I may increase the thickness thereof by forming an upwardly extending ridge 58 extending longitudinally of the guard between the shoulder 23 and the rearward end of the guard portion in which the seat 25 is formed, This ridge is preferably formed as an upstanding flange as shown in Figure 5, but may be formed as shown in Figure 6 or otherwise if desired.

The guard is preferably made as a casting so that the cost of manufacturing guards particularly when made inlarge numbers is principally the cost of the material used in the castings, and by forming the spaced ridges 53 rearwardly of the bolt 43 in the manner shown, I provide adequate strength at the reduced section without increasing manufacturing costs by employing additional material to increase the section between the ridges. The weight of the guard and consequently its cost can be further reduced without sacrificing strength by removing material as at 59 under the ledger plate. I

' It is thought that the invention and numerous of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it is obvious that numerous changes may be made in the form,

construction, and arrangement of the several parts without departing from the spirit or scope of my invention, the form herein described being merely apreferred embodiment for the purpose of demonstrating the invention. 7

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows:

1. A mower guard comprising a member providing on its underside a continuous runner surface having a prow in the forward portions of the member, spaced ribs forming a rearward continuation of said prow, a ledger plate seat, a ledger plate mounted on said seat, a holding member for said plate having a threaded end projecting on the underside of said guard between said ribs and a holding nut on said threaded end, said ribs'engaging said nut to prevent the same from turning.

2. A mower guard comprising a member having a heel and toe and providing a continuous runner surface on its underside extending from said toe to said heel, said surface comprising a prow in said toe and spaced ribs forming a continuation of said prow and extending in said heel, said guard being of reduced section intermediate the toe and heel and said ribs extending in said reduced section to strengthen the same, and said reduced section being strengthened longitudinally in its upper surface by means of a flange extending across said reduced section between the heel and toe.

3. A mower guard comprising a-member having a heel and toe and providing a continuous runner surface extending from said toe to said heel, said surface comprising aprow in said toe and spaced ribs forming a continuation of said prow and extending in said heel, said guard being of reducedsection intermediate the toe and heel and said spaced ribs extending in said reduced section on opposite sides of the guardto strengthen the same and said reduced section being fur,- ther strengthened by means of an integral upstanding flange extending longitudinally of the guard, said flange being formed integrally with said toe, said heel, and said portion of reduced section. V r

4. Amower guard comprising a member having a heel and toe and providing a continuous runner surface extending from said toe to said heel, said surface comprising a prow in said toe and spaced ribs forming a continuation of, said prow and extending in said heel, said guard being of reduced section intermediate the toe and heel and said spaced ribs extending in said reduced section on opposite sides of the. guard to strengthen the same and said reduced section being further strengthened by means of an integral upstanding flangeextending longitudinally of the guard, said flange being formed integrally with said toe, said heel, and said portion of reduced section,,a ledger plate mounted on said guard, a holding member for said plate having a threaded end projecting on the underside of said guard between said spaced ribs and a holding nut threaded on the projecting end of said holding member and extending between and engaging said ribs to prevent the nut from turning and thus becoming loosened on the holding member. i

' CHARLES A. SWANSON. 

